Dag, Daglock, or daggle-lock is a lumpy, dirty, or clotted hair mass that has accumulated on the skin or hide of livestock, such as cattle or sheep, and other animals. For example, dag may be a dangling or matted lock of fur, hair, or wool and may comprise feces or urine. For this disclosure, a dag is considered to be any foreign matter that clings to the skin, hide, hair, wool or other covering of an animal.
FIG. 1 shows a sheep having dag on its hair. The dags may be formed under typical farming conditions. Dag often forms with water, urine, and defecation, which may become a part of a concrete-like composite. The formation of dag may lead to an enhanced probability of disease as large amounts of bacteria may be introduced into the dag. Dag formation on cattle, or other livestock, and problems associated therewith, may be prevalent in many places. For example, Australian cattle are often exported in large ships. The dags may add considerable weight and should be removed from the cattle before boarding to prevent excess shipping weight, disease, and for passing inspection.
Dags adhered to the hair of livestock, may also represent a significant health problem for the animal processing industry. This may be especially true during seasonal periods of rain. Processing of “daggy” livestock at abattoirs may increase the risk that meat reaching the consumer is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms.
Current methods for dag management may include dag removal which may induce stress in live animals at feedlots. This may have a detrimental effect on the quality of meat reaching the consumer, and additionally may pose health and safety hazards for workers. While cleaning and removal of the dags may be performed at the abattoir before or following slaughter, high microbial loads may be present in dags which may threaten food safety protocols.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.